1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for separating rebar from tangled bundles of rebar.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rebar comprises the elongated cylindrical steel rods which are placed within concrete to reinforce such concrete.
The rods of rebar come in bundles and often become entangled with one another.
At a facility which cuts and, on occasion, bends the rebar to make it suitable for particular purposes, a bundle of rebar is placed upon a horizontal rack. Then, after removing the straps which hold the bundle together, an individual manually grasps and shakes one rod at a time until it is loosened from the other rods. Such rod is then moved to a portion of the horizontal rack which can have one edge lowered to dump the separated rod onto rollers to be transported for measuring and cutting.
The only prior non-manual separator for rebar of which the present inventor is aware is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,995. That separator utilizes a “blade-like member 55” that is moved longitudinally with respect to the rebar. Apparently, it is inserted between two intertwined pieces of rebar and then moved longitudinally.